We recently connected with Ryan Peña and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ryan , thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I want to say, around spring 2020, I was invited to take part in what would be my first-ever gallery. I was so confused at first because before that, I was just that guy who wanted to always follow his friends around with a camera. I never looked at it as a passion before that. During the gallery, I just met so many different artists/photographers from all over who were so passionate about their work, and I was just so intrigued to hear everyone’s story. It was pretty sick, but after that, I started getting way more into the craft. I was still following my friends around with cameras all the time, documenting everything. But everything I put out now is my way of looking at the world through my eyes. And if you like what you see, stay a while and work with me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
What got me here in the first place? We could track it back to my early years in middle school and high school. I was never that confident kid who enjoyed being in pictures or anything, but I was always friends with the fashion kids who loved being on camera. So, I would always have the camera out, getting photos, recording us doing stuff we probably shouldn’t have been. It was such a great time.
I literally remember the day I got my first DSLR camera. It was the cheapest one I could find, but my friends were so hyped. I just bought the biggest memory stick, and every day we would just do random photo shoots in my room with my friends and my sister. That’s what really pushed it.
After a few years, I started the ‘Psyxusa’ page, which is the handle I go by still to this day. I would just post everything. I want everyone to know that my biggest motivation was being able to share with people how I captured them, their reactions. It’s so cool taking someone’s photo and then posting it later on, the finished product, and just seeing them react.
Some people saying they have never seen themselves this way, or some people saying the photo was cursed. Every reaction, good or bad, it was so moving for me. I’m most proud of being able to do this for so long and not hating it. There are so many paths that I’ve tried creatively, and once it felt kind of like a business, I stepped away because it took the fun right out of it. I want to say what sets me apart from the others is the amount of love I have for everyone I meet in this industry weather it’s someone I work with or someone who simply just enjoys my photos.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Something I benefit from and thank God every day for it is my ability to make friends and meet people. If you focus on those aspects, social media presence comes with ease, because these are people who want to see you and see what you’re working on, and they will help share that presence.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I recently moved to Los Angeles. I didn’t have many friends out here, had no access to anything. I didn’t know how to get around, where to hang out, and I have to say, within a month, I found myself surrounded with the most creative, most accepting group of people I’ve ever met. I started going to places I thought I’d never see myself, and just started garnering a completely new audience, which revolves around the LA nightlife scene, the parties, the shows, etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ryanpena407.wixsite.com/my-site?fbclid=PAAaY_nBotUetgcxuwHz-XKEP3laIAMqAotKMZ0isE-06Lbb253agCv0IuPgY
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/psyxusa?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@loveryan5972